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The Pécs MCC regional center organized four exciting programs for the event, which offered something for all ages. The presentations took place in three parallel rooms in the MCC building in Pécs.
Georgina Kiss-Kozma gave an interesting presentation titled "In the maze of symbols - The fast changing world of emojis".
The head of research at the Institute for Youth Research believes it is important to conduct research that is not just for the desk drawer. She says that we are witnessing changes in the world that are having a very real impact on people's lives, especially young people. These radical, rapid changes are most visible in our cultural consumption habits.
The researcher said that during the communist era, cafés and social spaces where meaningful discourse could take place were closed down. These were replaced by house parties for young people. It was still a place of personal communication. Today this has changed completely.
"While our research shows that young people need and miss community and value physical contact more and more, never before have digital devices and the internet been so ubiquitous in every household. Everyone has a smartphone in their pocket and we are online non-stop, regardless of age. With this in mind, it is worth reflecting on whether banning phones from schools can be relevant. For children, school is the most important socialisation space where they can learn to exist in physical society and develop their personal network of relationships outside the family for the first time. This is jeopardised if they spend time on their phones instead of each other," said Georgina Kiss-Kozma.
It was also discussed that emojis and emoticons are now part of our digital literacy, our literacy is increasingly shifting towards the visual. On the other hand, our vocabulary is starting to fade.
"If we don't keep a balance in our communication tools, we can easily lose our ability to express our emotions in words, in a sophisticated way," the speaker pointed out.
On the Researchers' Night, elementary school students were given a presentation by engineer Ákos Vecsei, a member of the MCC Young Talent Programme and the KJBK Infinity teaching team, entitled "The World of Robots". The interactive session allowed students to build and program their own robot.
Veronika Varga, a former student of the Pécs High School Program, presented her presentation "Therapeutic methods in the treatment of juvenile self-harm", and Johanna Tengeler, a student of our University Programme, introduced the audience to the mysteries of "The Swabian folk costumes of Baranya County and their regional differences".
